One of the first things I ever learned to bake was Banana Bread, and I feel like over the years, I have found the best banana bread recipe which I pretty much make it all the time. We don't eat many bananas at my house, but I definitely buy them all the time.
So, last weekend we were going to a BBQ and I had volunteered to bring dessert. I had recently found a recipe for Banana Cake that was similar to banana bread, but more cake-like. I decided to give it a go, but when Saturday approached, I realized that I didn't have any overly ripe bananas to make it! No!!!! How could this be?! Well, sure enough there are tons of tips and tricks to ripen bananas at an accelerated rate on Pinterest and the internet, so I picked one and gave it a go!
What do you know, it actually worked! After the bananas were 'ripe' they were super sweet and perfect for banana bread. The texture was a bit stringy, but that didn't make any difference once they were mashed and in the cake. I promise this is the easiest thing you will ever do....
So, in more words....
1. Get your bananas and preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Put your bananas on a LINED baking sheet. They will leak a bit and that's a mess I don't want to deal with (and you shouldn't have to either).
3. Bake bananas at 300 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the skin is dark brown/black.
4. Remove and let cool for at least 30 minutes before using.
Done!
Need some banana inspiration? How about using this tip to make one of these easy recipes....
Greek Yogurt Strawberry Banana Bread
The Best Banana Bread and Muffins
Banana Bread with Warm Blueberry Compote
Emily @ My Love for Words says
What a great idea! I love banana bread but rarely have the patience to wait for them to ripen (or my little monkeys devour them before they have the chance). Thanks for sharing!
Allyson says
Thanks for coming by, Emily!
now at home mom says
thank you so much for sharing this! I often prepare banana bread and sometimes I don't have the patience to wait for them to be ripped enough! 🙂 I will give this a try! 🙂
Allyson says
It's definitely a life saver in a time crunch!
organized31 says
That's too funny. I've never had to ripen bananas, I've always had to find something to do quickly with bananas that were too ripe. Thanks for sharing at Inspire Us Thursday.
Leigh says
Just wanted to add that I tried this today in the afternoon, but didn't have a chance to bake my banana muffins until all the kids went to bed. I peeled the bananas and left the whole in the bowling in the afternoon, but when I got back to them they were a bit hard and hard to mash. Not sure if I didn't bake long enough or if they get hard again after sitting for several hours?
Allyson says
I think this is one of those things that you do in a pinch. Do it, and use them asap. If you let them sit, they probably firmed up again.
Erlene says
This is a trick I've never heard of before. Pinned it to my cooking tips board.
alice says
I don't understand how this actually sweetens them like very ripe bananas. I see how they'd be softer, but does it make them more sweet as well?
Allyson says
In my opinion, heating them does sweeten them! But who knows!